Katie Baby and the Fourth of July

To kick off our summer, one of our most favorite people in the world (aka Kate) came to visit us for a whole week at the beginning of July!  We had such an amazing time hanging out with her.  My kids have always adored Kate, she has been babysitting them since Simon was 1 years old (for over 4 years).  They loved every second they got to spend with her wrestling, shooting hoops, going for walks, and just giggling together!  It seemed like we could chat for hours and hours, which we did! We were able to squeeze in a some girl time, taking a day trip to the Hill for a Capital tour (courtesy of me really cool cousin Brett), lunch with Neal at the Pentagon, and then a quick little sneak peek at the National Museum of Natural History.  We Love you Kate and we can't wait for you to come and see us again!!

The Fourth of July turned out to be super fun day as well!  In the morning, we went up to Theodore Roosevelt Island to drop off a getaway car for the evening fireworks, and spent a few hours walking around the nature trail and viewing the memorial there.  Then we spent the afternoon with some friends from church eating delicious food and visiting while our kids did water activities outside.  Afterwards, we took the kids and went down to D.C. to see the National Fireworks across the Potomac.  Our view of the fireworks was spectacular, as the show seemed to occur directly over the Lincoln Memorial which from where we were sitting had the Washington Monument directly lined up behind it.  A very patriotic evening that was just perfect!  Our planted getaway car plan went off without a hitch. It took us about 15 minutes to walk with the crowds to our car, and then Neal and his bike hopped in with our friends who took him to the van that was parked a few miles away.  

GOD BLESS THE USA!!